There are many factors weighing on my mind as I consider a run for Congress. One of the biggest is that too many members of Congress have become pawns of corporate titans, Wall Street bankers and the rest of the 1%.
I want to go to Washington to fight for the middle class and stand up for working families. That is why I am standing in strong opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The TPP is bad deal! It will put thousands of American jobs at risk, encourage slave labor working conditions across the globe, and do irreversible damage to the environment.
Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted, we’ve seen a mass exodus of jobs to countries that do not respect workers’ rights and allow for corporations to pay near slave wages. The TPP will only continue this trend. It will destroy thousands of middle class American jobs. The TPP will benefit companies that decide to move jobs overseas to countries that have no respect for workers’ rights.
The TPP engages too many bad actors as “trade partners.” It is a reckless policy to engage with countries that refuse to respect workers and attack those who organize for better working conditions and wages. If the United States is going to give preferential trade treatment to some countries, we must do so with partners who respect workers and allow for union organizing.
We all recognize that climate change is a man-made disaster and something that, collectively, the global community needs to work together to stem. The TPP will undoubtedly create irreversible damage to our environment. This agreement will create an unmitigated risk to natural treasures and wildlife. Under the TPP, we will only see increased stress on resources, habitats, and wildlife across the globe. That is why all leading environmental groups are opposed to this proposal.
Finally, the most concerning part of the TPP is the reckless and hidden manner in which the administration has tried to pass this agreement: by hiding many key sections of the agreement from Congress and the American people. If there is going to be a vote on this proposal, it must be presented and debated in an open manner that allows for the consequences to be weighed and debated by our representatives in Congress.
About Mike Noland -
Mike is an Illinois State Senator, first elected in 2006. He has been one of the most progressive members of the Senate and is exploring a run for Congress in IL-8 as a populist Democrat focused on economic recovery, ethics reform, and fighting for universal health care. You can follow him on Twitter @noland4congressand Facebook at facebook.com/nolandforcongress.